Dancing Lessons
by SteelCityMagnolia
Summary: Everyone knows Francis Gage does not dance, but when Sydney sees him out one night dancing with a gorgeous blond, it strikes a nerve. Is it really what it seems, though? A sweet little one-shot featuring our favorite ranger pairing.


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Walker, Texas Ranger characters within this story, nor is any ownership implied.**

"I need a break, my feet are killing me!" Erika Trivette declared as she dropped into a chair next to Sydney Cooke at the table at Frank's Spot. Los Gatos Callejeros, one of the hottest new salsa bands in the Dallas area, was playing and the dance floor Frank had cleared space for was packed. Sydney had been sitting at the table with her partner, Francis Gage, swaying and bobbing to the music and tapping her feet to the Latin rhythms while she watched her friends dance. It was no use asking Gage to take her out on the dance floor; it was common knowledge that Francis Gage did not dance. No matter how much begging, pleading, or cajoling Sydney did, her partner would stay firmly planted in his seat.

"Erika! This is an awesome song!" James Trivette set their drinks down on the table and danced a few steps to the lively tune the band had started to play.

"Oh, no, Jimmy," Erika laughed. "I have danced until I dropped! Why don't you dance with Sydney?"

Sydney didn't need to be asked twice. She bounded out of her chair and let her friend lead her on to the crowded floor.

"Oh, Syd?" Erika called after her. "I hope you don't get dizzy easily!"

"Yeah," Trivette laughed. "My motto is spin her 'til the floor smokes!"

Erika sighed and sipped at her drink, enjoying the momentary cooldown and eyeing Gage as he watched Sydney dancing with Trivette.

"You don't dance, huh?" Erika asked.

"Well, ah…" Gage stumbled over his words when he saw Erika's raised eyebrow.

"Mmm hmmm," Erika replied pointedly, taking a long sip of her drink. She sat back in her chair and watched as Gage eyed Trivette as he spun Sydney around on the floor, her hair flying and hips shaking.

"Hmph," Erika snorted, shaking her head when Gage finally turned his head her way.

"I can't do all those fancy moves," Gage countered defensively. "Maybe if they play a slow song –"

Erika held up her hand, cutting him off before he could say any more. "They already played three slow songs, and you know where you were? You were sitting right where you are right now not asking Sydney to dance."

"Well, she could ask me, you know." Gage was indignant.

"You know Syd is not going to ask you to dance, Gage."

"What am I supposed to do? I don't dance. I just don't. I don't know how and I'm not going out there and making an ass of myself," Gage explained.

"You could take dance lessons. And then maybe Sydney wouldn't be sitting here all night dancing in her damn chair," Erika huffed, more annoyed than helpful.

"And where do I go for that?"

"It's Texas, Gage. You can learn to salsa or two-step in any bar or club under the Lone Star flag."

"You think I can learn to dance?" Gage asked skeptically.

"You can at least give it a try." Erika leaned in close so Gage didn't have to strain to hear what she said next over the band's pulsing beat.

"And Gage, just so you know, women love men who know how to dance. Love them." Erika emphasized the words and nodded slightly toward Sydney who was still twirling and moving to the band's sultry rhythms.

Gage allowed his gaze to follow Erika's. "Is that so?" he asked, a slight smile spreading across his face.

"Mmm hmm," Erika nodded, leaning back in her chair and swirling the ice cubes around in her glass. "Yes it is."

* * *

Sydney perched herself on the corner of her partner's desk like a dark, exotic bird. Gage took a deep breath and shuffled the paperwork he was trying to concentrate on finishing. Hadn't she figured out that the more she did things like that, the less likely he was to get his paperwork done and he already had a tough enough time with paperwork as it was?

"So, movie night tonight, partner?" Sydney asked. "There's a Jackie Chan marathon tonight, and we can grab takeout from somewhere. We could try that new pizza place in Deep Ellum or just do the usual and call Pang's."

Gage grimaced slightly as his pen scratched away at the form he was busily filling out. The scowl on his face didn't go unnoticed.

"What? What's that look for?" Sydney asked.

"Aw, Syd, I wish I could," Gage tried to pour as much regret into his reply as possible. "I'm going out with some of the guys, we scored tickets for the Mavs game tonight. I didn't realize it was our movie night when they asked me about it. I'm sorry."

"Oh," Sydney tried to hide her disappointment. For as long as she could remember, Wednesday nights were movie night for her and Gage, so it was hard for her to believe he forgot. What's more, this was the second week in a row he'd begged off. Last week he called just before he was supposed to be at her house and said a pipe had broken under his kitchen sink and he needed to get it fixed and clean up the mess before he flooded his downstairs neighbor's apartment.

"Mavs tickets," she continued, trying to sound cheerful. "Cool. Those are hard to come by, so you can't pass those up. That's okay. We can always do movie night another night. And hey, maybe I'll see you on TV, sitting there watching the game."

"Yeah, maybe," Gage replied. "I sure hope they don't put us on the kiss cam, though!"

Sydney went back to her desk and tried focus on a case file, but her mind was elsewhere. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't been looking forward to spending the evening with her partner, curled up on her overstuffed couch watching the same Jackie Chan movies they'd each seen a dozen times over. It wasn't the movies she had been looking forward to; it was the company. Now, with Gage canceling on her twice in as many weeks, Sydney was wondering what was wrong as she was faced with another movie night by herself. Just her, Jackie Chan, leftovers if they hadn't gone bad yet, and the rest of the bottle of wine in her refrigerator. All that was missing was the cat, she thought with a miserable sniff. Make that cats, with an 's.' Plural. May as well have several, she thought. If you're going to do it, do it right.

As Sydney sat pondering the idea of cat ownership and the number of cats it took to enter crazy cat lady territory, her phone rang, startling her out of her misery.

"Sydney Cooke," she spoke into the phone.

"Sydney," It was her best friend and Assistant District Attorney Alex Cahill-Walker on the other end. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Well, nothing now," Sydney's voice spilled disappointment, but Alex didn't seem to catch on.

"I just wrapped up the DiMarco case. Life in prison, no chance for parole. Walker is out of town until late tonight and I need to celebrate. What do you say about a girls' night out? Dinner, wine, girl talk, lots of laughs? I already talked to Josie and she can watch Angela," Alex bubbled with excitement.

"You won the DiMarco case? Alex, that is fantastic! Congratulations!" Sydney was genuinely happy for her friend, especially because she knew how tough the case had been and she knew how hard Alex had worked on it. She glanced across the room at Gage, who was scribbling furiously on a piece of paper in a file folder. The disappointment she had felt only seconds before turned to anger.

"You know what, Alex? I could use a good girls' night out, too. And we should take Erika along. Let's go have some fun tonight."

* * *

At Erika's suggestion, Alex pulled her convertible into the parking lot of Mallorca, a new bar and restaurant that had earned rave reviews for its Mediterranean-Mexican fusion menu, creative drinks, and its Latin dance nights. The three women tumbled out of the car in a flurry of curled hair, high heels, short dresses, carefully-painted lips, and schoolgirlish giggles, anxious to get their night out underway. They crossed the parking lot, pausing for a moment so Sydney could adjust the strap on her shoe.

As they waited, a car in the parking lot caught Alex's eye.

"Syd, didn't you say Gage was going to the Mavericks' game tonight?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Isn't that his car over there?" Alex pointed to the opposite end of the parking lot where an orange Chevelle sat by itself.

Sydney's gaze followed where Alex pointed, the all-too-familiar car catching her eye as well.

"Maybe they met here to go to the game?" Erika offered.

"Maybe it's not his," Alex added with a shrug. "That was a pretty popular car back in the day."

"But two of them, the same color, and restored to mint condition?" Sydney questioned, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Syd, he said he was going to the Mavs game. You know how Gage is about sports. He wasn't going to pass up tickets for the Mavs. That has to be somebody else's car," Erika reasoned. "And besides, do you really think greasy-burger-and-fries Gage would really be in for Med-Mex fusion?"

The three women laughed at Erika's description of their friend.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that. If it's not cheap, fast, dripping in barbeque sauce or fresh off the hoof, it doesn't fit Gage's definition of food," Sydney laughed, turning her attention away from the orange Chevelle and back to having a good time with her friends.

The perky hostess led the friends to a half-circle booth separated from the bar and dance floor by a series of vertically-louvered screens painted with bright floral prints. She set their menus on the table, recited a list of drink and dinner specials over the sound of the band warming up on the stage at the opposite end of the dance floor and left them to get settled. While Sydney waited for Alex to slide into the booth, movement from the other side of the screen caught her eye. A very familiar tall, blond figure leaned against the bar with his back toward her.

"What the?" Sydney muttered, sliding into the booth and turning to look between the screen's panels.

"What's wrong, Syd?" Erika asked as she took her seat and picked up her menu.

Sydney watched as a tall, leggy, suntanned blond with a head full of perfect beach waves leaned toward Gage and said something that he reacted to as if it were the most incredible thing he'd ever heard. He leaned toward her and then laughed, his hand first on her upper arm and then pulling her into his side for a hug.

Sydney's eyes and mouth both flew open wide.

"Mavericks' game?" she hissed. "Mavericks' game, my ass!"

* * *

"Syd, are you okay?" Alex asked, turning to follow Sydney's fire-filled gaze only to be interrupted by the young man who came to take their drink order.

"I'll have a glass of chardonnay," Alex requested politely.

"Same here," Erika answered.

"Whiskey." Sydney announced.

"Excuse me?" the young man asked, leaning in as Sydney's response had been drowned out by a sudden burst of feedback from the band's microphones.

"Ah, never mind," Sydney said, rethinking her reply. "Chardonnay is fine for me, too."

When their server left, Alex and Sydney both turned around in their seat to peer between the screen's panels once again.

"I don't believe it," Alex mused. "What is he doing?"

"Ladies? What in the world?" Erika looked at her friends, confused by their strange behavior. Sydney grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn around and look toward the bar.

"What the hell? Who is that?" Erika asked.

"Well, it's sure not one of the guys," Sydney huffed, turning back around in the booth just as their server brought their drinks. She picked up her glass of wine and swallowed half of it. The young waiter gave her a strange look.

"Better bring me a refill," Sydney requested as she looked into the bowl of the glass at its half-drained contents. "Or maybe we should just get the bottle."

"I don't understand," Alex began, "he told you he was going to the basketball game."

"Yeah, and last week it was a broken pipe. Point is, he is just too damn chickenshit to tell me he's got a girlfriend. I guess he thinks I can't take the truth. Like maybe it'll break my poor, fragile heart or something," Sydney's voice dripped with sarcasm and she downed the rest of the wine in her glass.

Erika pushed her untouched glass of wine toward Sydney, who immediately picked it up and took a gulp.

"But you two are just work partners, right?" Erika asked, puzzled. As far as she knew that's all Sydney and Gage were, although she suspected there might be some unresolved feelings between them. She had asked Jimmy about them once and recalled what he had told her. 'If two people ever did belong together, Erika, it's Syd and Gage. You see it, I see it, everyone sees it but those two. And God help us all when they finally do figure it out.'

"Yes," Sydney replied.

"No," Alex replied.

Sydney whipped her head around in Alex's direction, her dark eyes filled with sparks.

"We're just friends," Sydney replied tartly.

"Sydney, if you and Gage were just friends, you wouldn't be sitting here in a rage because he's out with somebody else," Alex reasoned.

"I'm not pissed because he's dating someone. I'm pissed because he's a damn liar," Sydney's voice broke on the last word as a tear spilled onto her cheek.

"He lied to me, that's all," she said softly, finishing off Erika's glass of wine. "Friends don't lie to each other."

"Oh! Oh, oh no." Erika sounded panicked. "They're headed this way."

Sydney peeked through the screen and saw Gage and the leggy blond walking from the bar. A quick glance around the room told Sydney what she needed to know. A sign pointed the way to the restrooms and that was probably where they were heading. If so, they would be walking right by their table.

"Shit," she hissed. With no time to escape and no way to hide her mascara-streaked face, she ducked under the table.

"Cover for me," she ordered before diving underneath the blue tablecloth.

Alex and Erika looked at each other in disbelief, but quickly rearranged the table so there were only two menus. As Gage and his friend approached the table, Erika noticed the three wine glasses. She discretely picked up one glass and slid it under the tablecloth, tapping Sydney on the shoulder with it. Sydney took the glass just as Gage and his friend stopped in front of the table. Sydney could see their shoes. Sydney noticed that Gage's black dress shoes were slightly scuffed. His date was wearing a pair of silver sandals with ridiculously high heels. How the hell does she walk in those things, Sydney wondered. Her toenails looked freshly polished, a bright fuchsia that matched her dress. Sydney wished Erika had handed her a fork instead of a glass and fought the urge to smash her fist down onto those shiny pink-polished toes.

"Alex! Erika!" Gage sounded surprised and cheerful. "What are you doing here?"

"We came out to celebrate my winning a big case today," Alex replied.

"Syd didn't come with you?" Gage asked, puzzled.

"No, she said she had plans for tonight." Alex turned in her seat so she could purposely bump Sydney with her knee. "What are you doing here? And who's this?" Alex asked, nodding to the suntanned blond on Gage's arm.

"Oh, oh, I'm sorry. This is a friend of mine, Brittany. Brittany, I told you about my co-workers Walker and Jimmy? These are their wives, Alex and Erika. Alex is our assistant district attorney."

"It's so nice to meet you both." Out of sight below, Sydney imagined Brittany's too-big smile as she would extend the freshly-manicured hand with nails that matched the fuchsia toenails in the high-heeled silver sandals.

"Have we met before?" Erika asked. "You look so familiar to me. Where do you work?"

"Brittany is a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader," Gage answered for his friend.

Cheerleader? Cheerleader! Sydney felt her blood pressure rise. So that's why he'd been blowing off movie nights with her. Of course. Who would want to watch movies with short little Sydney when there was a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader around? Forget stabbing Brittany's perfectly pedicured foot with a fork, Sydney thought. She now had the sudden urge to drive her own high heel into Gage's shin, picturing him collapsing onto the floor in pain and hopefully pulling Little Miss Pom Poms down with him. Surely her balance couldn't be that good on those silver stilettos. Sydney had found cheerleaders annoying back in high school and she was annoyed by them, especially this particular cheerleader, now, too.

Above Sydney, the conversation continued.

"That must be where I know you, then," Erika mused. "We may have met at the Yards for Youth event last month at the stadium. My husband used to play for the Cowboys. Jimmy Trivette."

"They used to call him 'Go Long Trivette,'" Gage clarified.

Brittany responded with a hollow 'oh.' "No, I don't recall him. He must have been a bit before my time," she finished with a giggle.

Sydney rolled her eyes. Jesus, what cradle did Gage rob? And that giggle. The girl sounded like she was sucking helium. It only made her even more annoying, Sydney thought.

The band suddenly kicked into its opening set; its first note sending a vibration through the floor that jolted Sydney, the startled yelp that left her lips almost giving her hiding place away.

"Francis!" Brittany exclaimed over the pulsing beat, "I love this song! Come on!"

"We better go. Have a fun night, ladies. I'll see you tomorrow, Alex," Gage said as Brittany led him toward the dance floor.

"Oh, and do me a favor?" Gage turned back to Alex and Erika. "Don't tell Sydney you saw me here, okay? Please? I told her I went to the Mavericks' game tonight."

"Oh, okay, sure," Alex wrinkled her nose but nodded, the tone of her voice letting Gage know she wasn't happy with his request.

"Mmm, yeah, whatever," Erika replied, the disgust in her voice equally as obvious.

Francis? She called him Francis? And how dare he ask her friends to go along with his little charade and lie about seeing him, Sydney thought as a rage built within her.

Erika lifted the tablecloth and tapped her on the shoulder.

"They're gone,"

"Thank God," Sydney huffed as she scrambled out from her hiding place, trying to catch a glimpse of Gage and Brittany through the screens that separated them from the bar and dance floor. While she had been hiding under the table, the bar had filled to near-capacity and the dance floor was packed.

"Just so you know, Sydney, I would have definitely told you about seeing Gage here tonight," Alex said with a shake of her blond curls.

"Me too, girlfriend," Erika chimed. "I can't believe he asked that."

"Maybe we should go," Alex suggested, motioning for their server. While she paid their check, Sydney peeked between the screens until she spotted a flash of bright pink on the dance floor.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sydney whispered. What she saw made her heart fall to her feet. Gage had told her time and time again that he didn't like to dance, but for somebody who didn't like to dance, Gage sure looked like he was enjoying dancing with Brittany.

Erika followed Sydney's gaze to the dance floor and saw what Sydney did. She suddenly understood Sydney's crestfallen expression.

"The nerve," Erika hissed in disgust. "Come on, ladies. Let's go somewhere else. I had no idea this place was such a dump."

The three women left the building, stepping out into the warm night air and leaving the pulsating music behind them.

"Oh, Syd," Alex began. "I am so sorry."

"Me, too," Erika chimed. "We can go somewhere else. There's a place –"

"No," Sydney cut her off. "If you both don't mind, I think I just want to go home."

"That's okay, too," Alex soothed.

"But first," Sydney glanced around the parking lot with a determined look in her eye. Spotting Gage's orange Chevelle, she strode off toward it.

"Syd, where are you going? We're parked over here!" Erika called out.

Sydney paid no attention to her. She crossed the parking lot to Gage's car and leaned down to check her reflection in the side mirror. She licked her fingertip and wiped at the mascara that had smeared under her eyes and flicked at the few strands of hair that had fallen over her forehead. Standing up, she glanced back at Alex and Erika, and then kicked a dent in Gage's driver's side door.

"Girl," Erika drawled, silently pleased with her friend.

"Oh, my God," Alex whispered in stunned bewilderment. "Sydney, what did you just do?"

* * *

Sydney glanced at the clock on the wall in Ranger Headquarters. As she figured, Gage was late – a good twenty minutes late. She shook her head and went back to the file she was reviewing.

"Sydney," Walker stepped out of the doorway of his office, "I need you and Gage –" Walker took a look around the room and noticed Gage's empty desk.

"Where's Gage?"

"No idea," Sydney replied. "Must have been a late night at the Mavericks' game."

Across the room, Trivette's ears perked up at the mention of the game.

"Did he go to that game? Aw, man. What a game! Did you see it?" Trivette asked excitedly.

Sydney rolled her eyes and went back to the file she was reading.

"What? I guess we're not talking about the game?" Trivette sounded confused.

"No, we're not talking about the game," Sydney's tone of voice let Jimmy know that the subject of basketball was completely off limits for the morning.

They all turned toward the sound of the door of Ranger Headquarters opening as Gage rushed in, coffee in hand.

"Sorry I'm late, Walker. Morning, Syd, Jimmy," Gage nodded to each of his co-workers.

Sydney rolled her eyes again and got up to refill her coffee cup. Trivette was on Gage instantly about the game.

"So you were at the Mavericks' game? That was some game! That final Hail Mary attempt at a basket? Who knew that Matthews could make a shot like that and beat the buzzer?"

"Yeah, that was something," Gage agreed, nodding his head as he sat down at his desk and began to sort through the paperwork he hadn't finished the day before.

"Gage, Sydney?" Walker called from his office. "I just got a call about some information on that jewelry store robbery last week. I want you two to check it out."

Gage breathed a sigh of relief. Anything to get away from Trivette and all his questions about that game he lied about going to. At least Sydney wasn't a big basketball fan and wouldn't spend the morning asking him a million questions.

Sydney took a gulp of coffee. She had a whole list of questions planned for Gage about the Mavericks: statistics, last night's lineup, and that unbelievable buzzer-beating shot that won the game. She wasn't a basketball fan, but thanks to ESPN's SportsCenter, she didn't have to be. She had the highlights and that was all she needed to watch her partner squirm.

* * *

The lead Walker had given them had turned out to be mostly a dead end. Mostly, because they were able to come up with another name for Trivette to check out for them. They headed back to Ranger Headquarters in the same uncomfortable silence they had spent most of the morning. Finally, Sydney spoke.

"Think we ought to stop for coffee, Gage? You look really tired today. But I guess that's what happens when the game goes into overtime."

Gage didn't reply. He just shifted a bit in his seat and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

"You know, that was a really amazing shot Matthews made last night. A buzzer beater from the opposite end of the court to win the game. That had to have been something to see in person."

"Mmm." Gage mumbled.

"I wonder what his completion record is when it comes to shots like that. I bet it's really impressive," Sydney continued. "With a player like that on the team, the Mavs are bound to go to the playoffs, and probably even the finals. And just think, you got to see the game that was probably the turning point that sent them there. That's really exciting, isn't it?" Sydney turned in her seat so she could look directly at Gage, staring him down with her arms crossed over her chest.

Gage couldn't take much more of Sydney's pointed questioning. He'd seen her in action plenty of times with suspects and knew exactly how persistent she could be.

"Okay, okay. No, I didn't go to the Mavs game," Gage ran a hand through his blond hair and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Oh?" Sydney asked "You mean you lied to me when you said you were blowing off our movie night because you and your buddies scored Mavs tickets?"

"No! Umm… Well, yes… ummm. No, Syd, it wasn't…." Gage stumbled over his words, knowing that if he said much more, he'd dig himself into a hole he'd have a hell of a time getting out of.

"Which was it, Gage, yes or no? And tread carefully, because I know exactly where you were last night." Sydney's words were emotionless, yet Gage knew just how angry she was.

"How do you know?" Gage turned the line of questioning back onto his petite partner.

"Oh, I know all about Little Miss Pom Poms and how you told Alex and Erika not to tell me they saw you."

Gage turned his head so fast to look at Sydney that he jerked the steering wheel to the right at the same time, swerving the car into the loose gravel on the side of the road. Sydney reached over and pushed the wheel back to the left.

"Keep it on the road there, Romeo. Yes, I know all about that. And you sure looked like you were having a good time dancing with her, too, Mister I-Don't-Like-To-Dance."

"What?" Gage's jaw dropped. "But you weren't even there last night!"

"Next time, Gage, look under the damn table."

Gage shook his head in disbelief. Of course she would have been hiding under the table, wouldn't she? She heard everything, and Lord only knew what she was thinking.

"Syd, it's not what you think."

"No? Because I'm pretty sure it's exactly what I saw." Sydney retorted angrily. How dare Gage try to make the situation less that what she witnessed with her own eyes, she thought. Any remorse she may have felt the night before for kicking the dent in the car that was his pride and joy quickly faded away.

"Syd. No. It's absolutely not," Gage countered, growing more and more frustrated with his partner and the situation.

"Well, then. Why don't you tell me what it absolutely is," Sydney fired back, her dark eyes flashing with a frustration of her own.

Gage pulled off the road into the parking lot of a little barbeque joint that hadn't yet opened for the day. Behind the small building, smoke billowed from the smokehouse as the cook prepared pork and brisket for the day's menu.

Gage shut the engine off and unbuckled his seatbelt so he could turn to face Sydney.

"Syd, listen. Brittany is a friend."

"I'm sure she is."

"She is. She also happens to be a Dallas Cowboys' cheerleader."

"Convenient." Sydney snapped.

"You're jealous!" Gage chuckled before realized he was treading thin ice.

"I think not. I have better things to do with my life than shake my ass and a set of pom poms on the sidelines of a football game," Sydney retorted.

"Brittany is also a dance instructor. That's how we met," Gage explained.

"Wait, what?" Sydney's brow furrowed with confusion. A dance instructor? What the hell?

"Remember that night we went to Frank's with Jimmy and Erika to hear that salsa band?" Gage asked.

Sydney nodded slowly. None of this was making any sense to her.

"Erika gave me hell for not dancing with you. She told me I should take dance lessons."

"So Erika fixed you up with Brittany?" Sydney asked angrily. Erika was supposed to be one of her best friends!

"No, no, just listen. Erika told me I should take dance lessons. You looked like you were having so much fun and I started to feel bad for all those times we went out and just sat at the table while everyone else was dancing, so I thought maybe Erika was right. So I took some lessons at a studio where Brittany teaches."

"Gage, that wasn't a dance studio last night. How did you get from going to lessons at a studio to going out dancing at a bar? And don't you dare lie to me," Sydney hissed.

"I'm getting to that, Syd. See, I'm fine with dancing at the studio, in class. But going out in public, well, I'm just sure I'm going to make an ass of myself."

Sydney raised an eyebrow and gave a slight nod. "Go on."

"I explained that to Brittany and she said she'd go with me a few times until I felt comfortable enough in public that I wasn't going to worry about making an ass of myself and that I'd be comfortable enough to take you out."

Sydney had been so fixed on Gage saying that Brittany would go out with him that she was certain she misheard the last part of what he said.

"Wait, what?"

"What?" Gage echoed.

"What did you say again?" Sydney asked.

"She said she'd go with me a few times until I felt comfortable enough in public to take you out dancing."

Sidney's eyes grew wide.

"You're going to take me dancing?" she asked in disbelief.

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Gage replied. "But yes, that's the plan. That's why I've been taking dance lessons and missing our movie nights. Erika made me feel bad that you were just sitting there while I was being selfish about the fact that I don't dance, so I decided to learn. And then I was going to ask you to go out to Frank's the next time that band played and show you my smooth new moves on the dance floor. Like I said," Gage glanced out the window for a moment and then looked back at Sydney and smiled, his bright blue eyes sparkling. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

Gage's smile caught Sydney completely off guard. She couldn't have been more wrong about the situation if she had tried.

"Well, then," Sydney bit her lip and then looked up at Gage, returning his smile. "I'm definitely surprised. And quite honestly, pretty embarrassed," she confessed.

"Embarrassed? Why?" Now it was Gage's turn to be confused.

"I thought you were blowing off our movie nights because you were dating Brittany. I mean, tall, blond cheerleaders are kind of your thing, you know," Sydney gave a weak smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"Used to be my thing," Gage pointed out. "Now I'd say I have a thing for short, dark-haired, highly-independent women who make me want to learn to dance."

Sydney blushed bright red.

"You really learned to dance because of me?"

Gage tucked a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to him, giving her that boyish grin.

"Syd, when will you ever figure out that there probably isn't anything I wouldn't do for you?" The look in his eyes softened and he leaned slightly toward her.

"I have to admit something," Sydney squirmed away, hating to break the mood and what she hoped was a kiss that was coming, but she needed to clear her conscience.

"That dent in your driver's side door?" She looked down and began to pick at a rough spot on her fingernail.

"Yeah, I noticed that. Some jackass hit me in the parking lot last night. Didn't even leave a note," Gage sounded annoyed.

"I'm the jackass, Gage."

"What? What are you talking about, Syd?"

"I'm the one that put a dent in your door, Gage. I was so mad when we left the bar last night, that I kicked your door and put that dent in it." Sydney looked up at him, her eyes full of remorse. "I am so sorry. I'll pay to have it fixed."

Gage sat back in his seat, a puzzled look on his face. He didn't say anything for several long moments – moments that felt absolutely unbearable to Sydney. The thoughts ran wild through her mind. Was he mad at her? Had she just ruined everything by confessing what she did in a moment of anger? She offered to pay to have the door fixed, surely he would forgive her, right? Why wasn't he saying anything?

Finally Gage laughed and leaned across the seat to pull Sydney into a tight embrace.

"You really were jealous," he laughed into her silky hair. "I think it's adorable!"

Sydney pulled away, trying to hide her blush-reddened face.

"And no, you don't have to pay to have my door fixed," Gage added. "Considering that I hadn't been completely honest with you about why I was missing our movie nights. But you do owe me."

Sydney looked up at Gage with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"That salsa band is playing at Frank's next weekend. I've already bought tickets, and you owe me a dance. Every dance. Because I'm not showing these moves off for just anyone, you know," Gage gave a self-confident smile and laugh.

"Oh, you are on," Sydney teased. "And that is a debt I'll be happy to pay!"


End file.
